Asian markets trade higher in early deals on Monday

Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Monday as Japan reported its trade balance which swung to a surplus in September and a strong Japanese manufacturing data from a purchasing manager’s survey also suggested signs of improved activity in the world's third biggest economy. Data showed September exports declined 6.9% on-year. The export volume was up 4.7% on-year, while imports fell 16.3% on-year, in line with market expectations. Meanwhile, Japan's preliminary Markit/Nikkei October manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) rose to 51.7 from 50.4 in September, the fastest expansion in nine months. Though, the lackluster lead from Wall Street and on caution ahead of the release of major corporate earnings results this week limited the gains.

Nikkei 225 added 46.10 points or 0.27% to 17,230.69, Hang Seng rose 72.52 points or 0.31% to 23,446.92, Jakarta Composite increased 17.03 points or 0.31% to 5,426.27, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 5.77 points or 0.35% to 1,675.75, Taiwan Weighted jumped 17.94 points or 0.19% to 9,324.51, KOSPI Index surged 9.25 points or 0.45% to 2,042.25, Straits Times spurt 10.64 points or 0.38% to 2,841.70, and Shanghai Composite was up by 39.76 points or 1.29% to 3,130.70.